Monday, March 10, 2008

Finally! We are ready to make sourdough bread! All right, as you'll hear me say in the clip, you don't want to do this step, until you've seen the last couple videos. Because your times will vary, you should see the last few steps so you can decide when is the best time to make the sponge. If you starter is ready, simply refrigerate it and wait until the timing is right.

Here's what you'll see in the last episodes, and what you'll need to plan for:

You take your starter and make what's called a "sponge" (that's today's video). This sponge must sit out for between 4 and 10 hours to ferment and become very bubbly (pictured here after 30 minutes).

Then, we use part of the sponge to make our dough. This needs to rise and double in size. The sourdough rises much slower than regular yeast bread, so I let it rise overnight.

After the dough has risen, we punch it down, and form a loaf. This loaf of sourdough must then be allowed to double in size before being baked (usually 3 to 6 hours).

Once you've seen the last episodes, you should be able to plan the final bread making. Don’t worry, the starter is fine in the fridge, so don't rush things! You're patience will be rewarded! Enjoy.

Yes, I had little bubbles forming after only one day, it was pretty exciting. I did feed it earlier today, and I just stirred it and little bubbles are breaking the surface right away so I think I'll be okay! Thanks, April

My starter was doing great (and much like your video/pics) until the "sponge" step. After 10 hours of fermenting, instead of becoming pancake-bubbley and spongey, it just looked like my watery/frothy starter. Either way, I proceeded and the dough never rose. Out of curiosity, I baked it anyway. The flavor was spectacular, but without rising at all, how much can you enjoy a tasty rock? What do you think went wrong?

next time add a little more flour to the sponge and leave it overnight. If it doesn't seem to be working add a tsp of yeast. You'll still have the flavor developed. Also remember the dough can take a long time to rise, especially if it's not in a warm spot.

Thank you very much for your sourdough starter vidoe clips. It is really helping me. I just have one more question though.After you make the sponge + 4-10hours fermentaion, how do you make dough from it? Could you tell me the dough recipe as well?

Hello chef,I attempted this recipe to a T and at the time of making the sponge i noticed it wasnt as frothy as yours was in the video. I live in hawaii and assume it is warmer so my process might've quickened. I let the sponge sit for a while (even longer than you said) and I believe it never got bubbly. Did i miss my window of opportunity? I think i did because on the fourth day it looked like yours did on your 5th day. Any suggestions, i think i am going to toss it... Thanks for the great site, been reading it for years.

I've been following your recipe and, for the most part, have made some excellent bread. I haven't been doing this long enough to get a handle on the time required. Sometimes I end up baking at mid-day, some times as late as 10 pm!!!

Hi John, I will have to put my starter in the fridge before I make my sponge because of timing, do I let it come bake at room temp before I make the sponge? Also I want to make two loaves, so after the sponge is ready do I use 4 cups of it and double the rest of the ingredients to make the bread dough.

Hi John,Finally I have shaped my bread into a loaf and put it onto a baking tin, waiting for it to double in size, but after 4 hours instead of it looking like a loaf it is looking more like a Ciabatta bread shape, can you think of what I did wronge so that next time I will get a better result.Thanks

Hi Hohn...thankyou for your quick replay, even though the bread did look like a ciabatta, it did taste great and the family loved it.I will be doing it again today, so I will keep you posted. One question though...when the loaf is shaped and resting, in one clip you grease glad wrap and put it on the top and in another clip you don't, which is the better way?Bye for now.

Hi John..I made two loaves, one was put into the cold oven and the other had to go into a hot oven because I could not fir them both in at the same time. the one that went in the hot oven had a better crust on the bottom....but either way I was very happy with them.Thank you so much. Do you have instruction on how to make pizza using some of the starter???

Hi Chef John! So i'm a little confused, the "sponge" is just another feeding without throwing away half the starter right?And like a feeding you wait 8-12 hours until you use it, or do you need to put it in the fridge before you use it?

Hi John, Love this series and I'm starting my starter today. I have watched all the videos and I'm a little confused about how to continue with the starter after I have removed what I need for my loaf. Do I leave it out and continue to add 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water while removing half imperpetuity?

I live near San Antonio Texas. I have been trying to make starter since Saturday. I've been feeding the starter and throwing half out every day. So far, every day it's been thick like the sponge, no watery froth at all. It does however have lots of large and tiny bubbles forming and it almost doubles in size every night and have to knock it down before I throw away half. Am I doing something wrong? or is there a reason I'm not getting the watery froth.

Hi Chef John,After days of throwing out and feeding, and my starter is now ready to be used to make the sponge.After I have discarded half of the starter, the remainder (half) is left in the bowl for me to make the sponge.Can you please tell me how many cups of starter is left to make the sponge?Just wanted to make sure that I have the correct amount of starter to make the sponge.If there is too much starter, it might spoil the consistency of the sponge?Thanks,Susan

Chef, I just wanted to thank you for the link to your About.com video. It really does make this process more understandable and less confusing. Plus, it's really nice to see your smiling face at the start of the video. I've tried starting sourdough several years ago and found I didn't have the patience to mess with it. Also, I think it really does make a difference where you live as to what type of yeast you'll "capture". It does seem as though San Francisco really is unique as far as the taste of your yeast goes.